BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1425
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Date of Hearing: June 27, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Das Williams, Chair
SB
1425 (Pavley) - As Amended March 28, 2016
SENATE VOTE: 26-11
SUBJECT: Water-energy nexus registry
SUMMARY: Requires the Air Resources Board (ARB), in
consultation with relevant state agencies and The California
Climate Action Registry, to develop a registry of greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions resulting from the water-energy nexus.
EXISTING LAW, under the California Global Warming Solutions Act
of 2006 (AB 32):
1) Requires ARB to determine the 1990 statewide GHG emissions
level and approve a statewide GHG emissions limit that is
equivalent to that level to be achieved by 2020.
2) Requires ARB to adopt regulations to require the reporting
and verification of statewide GHG emissions and requires
those regulations, where appropriate and to the maximum
extent feasible, to incorporate the standards and protocols
developed by the California Climate Action Registry.
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3) Specifies that entities that voluntarily participated in the
California Climate Action Registry prior to December 31,
2006, and have developed a GHG emissions reporting program,
are not required to significantly alter their reporting or
verification program, except as necessary to ensure complete
and accurate reporting.
THIS BILL:
1)Defines terms used in the bill, including:
a) "Climate Registry" as the nonprofit organization that is
a successor to California Climate Action Registry; and,
b) "Registry" as the water-nexus registry established by
the bill.
2)Requires ARB, in consultation with other relevant state
agencies and the Climate Registry, to develop and administer a
registry of GHG emissions resulting from the water-energy
nexus using the best available data.
3)States that participation in the Registry is voluntary and
open to any entity conducting business in the state.
Authorizes a participating entity to register its emissions,
including emissions generated outside the state, or an
entity-wide basis and to use the services of the Registry.
4)Requires ARB to additionally:
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a) Help participating entities establish emissions
baselines;
b) Encourage voluntary actions to increase water and energy
efficiency measures to reduce the carbon intensity of the
state's water system;
c) Enable participating entities to record voluntary
entity-wide GHG emissions reductions made after 1990 in a
consistent format that is supported by third-party
verification;
d) Ensure that sources in the state receive appropriate
consideration for entity-level verified emissions
reductions under potential future regulatory regimes or
qualification for financing opportunities relating to GHG
emissions.
e) Recognize, publicize, and promote participating entities
making voluntary reductions of GHG emissions; and,
f) Recruit broad participation in the registry from all
economic sectors and regions in the state.
5)States related findings and declarations.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, this bill has a one-time cost of $475,000 for
programming costs to develop the electronic registry platform.
Ongoing costs, likely in the range of $2 to $3 million, to
administer the program.
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COMMENTS:
1)The Climate Registry. SB 1771 (Sher, Chapter 1018, Statutes
of 2000) required the Secretary of the Resources Agency to
establish the California Climate Action Registry as a public
benefit nonprofit corporation that would record and register
voluntary GHG emission reductions made by California entities
after 1990. The bill required the registry to perform various
functions, including adopting standards for verifying
emissions reductions; adopting a list of approved auditors
that would verify emissions reductions; establishing emissions
reduction goals; designing and implementing efficiency
improvement plans; maintaining a record of all emissions
baselines and reductions; and, recognizing, publicizing, and
promoting entities that participate in the registry. SB 1771
established a governing board comprised of the Secretary of
the Resources Agency, the Secretary of Environmental
Protection, and five public members appointed by the Governor.
The California Climate Action Registry was required to, among
other things: 1) help various entities in the state to
establish emissions baselines; 2) encourage voluntary actions
to increase energy efficiency and reduce GHG emissions; 3)
enable participating entities to record voluntary GHG
emissions reductions made after 1990 in a consistent format
that is supported by third-party verification; 4) ensure that
sources in the state receive appropriate consideration for
verified emissions reductions under any future federal
regulatory regime relating to GHG emissions; 5) recognize,
publicize, and promote registrants making voluntary
reductions; and, 6) recruit broad participation in the process
from all economic sectors and regions of the state.
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The California Climate Action Registry closed in December 2010.
The Climate Registry formed as the successor agency to the
California Climate Action Registry. The Climate Registry is a
nonprofit organization, whose board of directors comprises
over 50 representatives from U.S. states and Canadian
provinces and territories. It offers tools and services for
organizations to measure, verify and report the carbon in
their operations.
This bill is modeled after the California Climate Action
Registry.
2)Water, energy, and emissions. According to the California
Energy Commission (CEC), water-related energy use in
California consumes approximately 20% of the state's
electricity and 30% of the state's non-power plant natural gas
(i.e., natural gas not used to produce electricity). The
water sector uses electricity to pump, treat, transport,
deliver, and heat water. CEC also found that the most energy
intensive uses of water in California are associated with end
uses by the customer (e.g., heating, processing, and
pressurizing water) and that 75% of the electricity and nearly
all of the natural gas use related to water in California is
associated with water heating. The state's ongoing drought is
expected to cause increases in groundwater pumping, water
treatment, and water recycling, which could further increase
energy use associated with water.
Electric utilities are required to disclose the sources of the
electricity they sell. However, this requirement does not
extend to water utilities that are not retail electricity
providers. An April 2015 report from the Union of Concerned
Scientists, Clean Energy Opportunities in California's Water
Sector, reports that although some water and wastewater
utilities independently report the sources of their
electricity, the information is not compiled in a standardized
format or updated on a regular schedule across the water
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sector.
The report states that the data gap makes it difficult to get a
clear picture of the amount and type of electricity
California's water and wastewater utilities rely on and that
this information gap makes it difficult to understand how the
water sector's electricity choices impact GHG emissions and
the state's efforts to decarbonize the electricity sector.
3)Author's statement:
Energy and water are intricately connected, and there is an
enormous amount of energy embedded in our water supply -
from the collection, production, transport, treatment and
delivery of water; to the direct consumption of water; to
the collection, treatment, and disposal or reuse of
wastewater. Nearly 20% of California's energy supply is
used to move, heat, and treat water.
While some of the water-energy related climate pollution is
already covered in the state's cap-and-trade program (via
the electricity generation sector), the state does not
currently have a clear accounting of the total greenhouse
gas emissions associated with the water system. Thus,
water suppliers, treaters, distributors and end users
currently lack the information and opportunity to do their
part in voluntarily advancing our climate and water
conservation goals.
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SB 1425 establishes a voluntary emissions repository for
projects that reduce the carbon intensity of California's
water system. This new registry will allow for entities
such as water agencies, large water consumers, businesses
and others to voluntarily track, measure, and baseline
their GHG emissions resulting from the water-energy nexus.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California League of Conservation Voters
Clean Water Action
Environment California
Environmental Entrepreneurs
Lutheran Office of Public Policy, California
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Mono Lake Committee
Sonoma County Water Agency
The Climate Registry
Tree People
Union of Concerned Scientists
US Green Building Council, California Chapter
Wholly H2O
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
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